This study examines the impact of firms’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives on financial performance. It also compares the valuation effects of corporate social performance initiatives in developed and emerging market firms. The study was based on ESG ranking scores in the Thomson Reuters database, and the sample comprised 1317 emerging market firms and 3569 developed market firms. In comparison with developed market firms, emerging market firms had higher ESG combined scores, ESG Controversy scores, category scores of resources use, workforce, human rights and corporate social responsibility strategy scores. This study finds that stakeholder initiatives positively impact valuation effects, based on all sample results. Firm-generated controversies may decrease valuation effects in the stock market. Results indicated that ESG initiatives have a significant positive to the firm performance. The presence of independent board members and ownership by investors is a positive determinant for value creation. The adoption of best practice corporate governance principles is an important determinant of the valuation of firms. Firms’ propensity to use defence mechanisms decreases valuation effects. Developed market firms received positive valuation effects due to ESG initiatives.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the post-merger operating performance of acquiring companies involved in merger activities during the period 1999-2002 in India. It attempts to identify synergies, if any, resulting from mergers. Design/methodology/approach – This paper uses the operating performance approach, which compares the pre-merger and post-merger performance of companies using accounting data to examine merger related gains to the acquiring firms. Findings – It is found that the post-merger profitability, assets turnover and solvency of the acquiring companies, on average, show no improvement when compared with pre-merger values. So it seems that, contrary to common beliefs and expectations, mergers usually do not lead to improve the acquirer's financial performance. Research limitations/implications – Further studies may develop some alternate measures of merger-related gains as financial measures have limitations to capture the full impact of merger on corporate performance. Moreover, a study providing detail insights into the reasons and patterns of post-merger corporate performance across the types of mergers and industry would be useful. Practical implications – The results show that mergers are not aimed at maximizing wealth of owners. This result suggests the need for managers to better focus on post-merger integration issues in order to create merger-induced synergies, rather than simply acquiring bigger size and achieve hidden objectives. Originality/value – The value of this research is its extension of the mergers and acquisitions performance research, which has been conducted on mostly American and European firms, to Indian firms.

Purpose: This research study examines the impact of social and governance initiatives on financial performance of global banks. The study is significant in the context of massive changes in regulations, government policy, social attitudes and market development attributed to banking sector.Design/methodology/approach: The source of data for this study was ESG database of Thomson Reuters. The study was based on 472 global banks. The research paper uses two-stage least square model and the study covered the five-year period 2015–2019.Findings: Banks with high intensity of social and governance-related activities have positive market-based valuation effects. Adequately capitalized banks tend to invest more in social initiatives. Banks' governance initiatives directed toward the use of anti-takeover defensive mechanisms are skeptically perceived by markets. Riskier banks tend to have less investments in social initiatives.Research limitations/implications: The findings are relevant in the context of expectations from policymakers, consumers and investors with respect to the role which banks ought to play in funding the development of a sustainable economy. The research finding that strong governance and social initiatives by banks are value-enhancing measures is a clear evidence of the significance of ESG initiatives as value-creating mechanisms as perceived by markets.Originality/value: This study addresses the gap in the research, which examines the role of governance and social initiatives on value creation in the banking sector firms. The study examines the impact of different elements of governance and social initiatives on financial performance of banks.

The study aims to understand the determinants of dividend trends of Indian firms. The study was based on a sample of 31,234 firms representing 15 different industry sectors. Construction materials, machinery and transportation equipment sectors were the most dividend intensive sectors in India. Partial least square structural equation modeling methodology (PLS SEM) was employed to examine the determinants of the dividend intensity of Indian firms. Different schemes of path models were tested and the results show that the higher the financial leverage, the lower is the propensity to pay dividends. Firms with high intangibles are expected to have higher agency costs. High growth firms have low dividend payout policies. Dividend intensity of firms is directly related to the size of firm. Higher the R&D intensity of the firms, greater is the dividend intensity of the firms. Firms with higher agency costs tend to have higher dividend intensity. Higher agency costs lead to lower cash flows for Indian firms. Firms with higher liquidity tend to pay more dividends. Profitable firms tend to have higher dividend intensity.

This paper investigates the role of Fibonacci retracements levels, a popular technical analysis indicator, in predicting stock prices of leading U.S. energy companies and energy cryptocurrencies. The study methodology focuses on applying Fibonacci retracements as a system compared with the buy-and-hold strategy. Daily crypto and stock prices were obtained from the Standard & Poor's composite 1500 energy index and CoinMarketCap between November 2017 and January 2020. This study also examined if the combined Fibonacci retracements and the price crossover strategy result in a higher return per unit of risk. Our findings revealed that Fibonacci retracement captures energy stock price changes better than cryptos. Furthermore, most price violations were frequent during price falls compared to price increases, supporting that the Fibonacci instrument does not capture price movements during up and downtrends, respectively. Also, fewer consecutive retracement breaks were observed when the price violations were examined 3 days before the current break. Furthermore, the Fibonacci-based strategy resulted in higher returns relative to the naïve buy-and-hold model. Finally, complementing Fibonacci with the price cross strategy did not improve the results and led to fewer or no trades for some constituents. This study’s overall findings elucidate that, despite significant drops in oil prices, speculators (traders) can implement profitable strategies when using technical analysis indicators, like the Fibonacci retracement tool, with or without price crossover rules.